The Mouvement Souveraineté-Association (MSA, ''English: Movement for Sovereignty-Association'') was a

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

movement formed on November 19, 1967 by

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...

to promote the concept of

sovereignty-association The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of ...

between

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and the rest of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Formerly a member of the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

, René Lévesque quit the party with a few hundred others after his proposal of a sovereign Quebec associated to the rest of Canada was rejected during a party convention. The MSA quickly began to move for a merger of all the independence movements in Quebec, which at the time were the Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale (RIN) and the

Ralliement national Ralliement national (RN) (in English: "National Rally") was a separatist and right-wing populist provincial political party that advocated the political independence of Quebec from Canada in the 1960s. The party was led by former '' créditiste'' ...

(RN). In January 1968, the MSA published the manifesto '' Option Québec''. From April 19 to 21, it held its first ''Congrès d'orientation'' with its 7300 members. The convention led to the publication of a groundwork document entitled ''Ce pays qu'on peut bâtir'' (This country that we can build) and the decision to create a new political party dedicated to Sovereignty-Association. From October 11 to 14, the MSA held its first national congress in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. The merger of the MSA and the RN created the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

(PQ). MSA leader René Lévesque was elected president of the PQ, and RN leader

Gilles Grégoire Gilles Grégoire (May 6, 1926 – November 22, 2006) was a co-founder of the Parti Québécois. Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Ernest Grégoire, he was elected in 1962 to the House of Commons of Canada with the Ralliement des c ...

became vice-president. On October 26

Pierre Bourgault Pierre Bourgault (January 23, 1934 – June 16, 2003) was a politician and essayist, as well as an actor and journalist, from Quebec, Canada. He is most famous as a public speaker who advocated sovereignty for Quebec from Canada. Biography B ...

, leader of the RIN, dissolved the party and invited its members to join the PQ. The short-lived MSA had served its purpose: sovereigntist forces in Quebec were united under a single party. Three elections later, the PQ won the 1976 provincial election, with historic consequences.

References

See also